Autism dividend report

Autism dividend report

In January the National Autism Project published a report The Autism Dividend: Reaping the Rewards of Better Investment. The report focuses on the lack of cost-effective and effective care for autistic people in the UK and calls for national governments to implement recommendations which are based on evidence-based practice. It also recommends that funders increase spending on autism research which adds to this evidence base.

In what remains of 2017, the National Autism Project plans to use the report to raise awareness of the need for policy change and for more funding. However, the project is due to finish within the coming year, and if the report is to have more impact than previous initiatives, the momentum must not be lost. As the authors of the report conclude, the combination of a heavy cost burden with a paucity of evidence-based support for autistic people in the UK is an unsustainable state of affairs.

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I’m sharing this not just because I believe in her words, but because I want to show you all a glorious example of a an amazing and powerful young autistic woman.

All too often an autism diagnosis can come with a doom and gloom narrative, one that instantly limits people’s ideas of what the person who received the diagnosis could be capable of. Not only that, but the words “special interest” can have such negative associations to them, but if you watch this video without those inbuilt assumptions of what autism is or isn’t, then what you will see is an amazingly PASSIONATE young person, whose passion has driven them further already than many adults. NOT someone that is flawed due to “restricted interests”.

Enjoy and promote your/your child’s autistic passions, and you never know where they might lead!

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders"You say you love your children above all else, yet you are stealing their futures right before their very eyes," - This 15-year-old activist just called out world leaders for their global inaction on climate change. ...

A response to the recent article in the Conversation, suggesting the results of an online survey support the Extreme Male Brain (EMB) theory of autism. This articles considers the cultural implications for autistic women who will face yet another hurdle to accessing diagnosis and suitable help.